Intentions VS Action…

“Five seagulls are sitting on a dock. One of them decides to fly away. How many seagulls are left?”

“Well…four.”

“No,” Jones responded. “There are still five. Deciding to fly away and ACTUALLY flying away are two very different things.”

“Listen carefully to me. Despite popular belief to the contrary, there is absolutely no power in intention. The seagull may intend to fly away, may decide to do so, may talk with the other seagulls about how wonderful it is to fly, but until the seagull flaps his wings and takes to the air, he is still on the dock. There’s no difference between that gull and all the others. Likewise, there is no difference in the person who intends to do things differently and the one who never thinks about it in the first place. Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you. ‘I intended to bring you flowers, but I didn’t.’ ‘I meant to finish this work on time.’ ‘I was going to be there for your birthday…'” -The Noticer by: Andy Andrews

Reading this passage almost took my breath away.

For almost three months my intentions have not matched my actions…our actions are linked to our integrity…and my integrity is suffering…

The stack of pre-addressed and stamped cards, pitifully blank, sitting on my desk for over a week are waiting for words of encouragement, and love that only I can disperse…

The guest post someone so thoughtfully wrote for me…it lays buried and forgotten in my Facebook messages folder…not because it isn’t good…not because I don’t appreciate it…but simply because I forgot…I dropped the ball…I allowed my busyness to scatter my thoughts…

The phone call to a hurting friend? Yeah, it was left un-dialed…substituted for a pitiful “Hey girl,…” text…

The word that is most often spoken when your actions do not meet your intentions is SORRY…I’m sorry I forgot…I’m sorry I meant to…I’m sorry I just didn’t have the energy to call you last night even though I said I would…I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I AM SORRY…

Sure grace is given, and I give myself enough of that…maybe too much of that..

What are the intentions in your life that are not being lived out in action? Whose blessing are you delaying because you are not acting? Who needed you to be Jesus walking into their wedding ready to make a miracle of wine, and you left them with only water because ‘you were tired’?

Check out this amazing sermon I head when I was visiting my friend Ronei in Nashville this weekend…it is titled “The Time is Now” you can listen to the sermon, or scroll down a bit and click on the notes sections and read the notes from the sermon…I know that it propelled Ronei and I to take some action…it is a sermon for the dreamers to help them BUILD…

BUILDing this place, this blog, my little part of the internet…it is not only my want, but my calling from the Lord…and while my INTENTION is to make it work…my actions have eluded to the fact that I have given up…

and maybe I did for a bit…but I am back…and ALL IN, because I’ve hired a designer to create a logo, color scheme, and all around spiff up the space…this is BIG!

I also have big news to share tomorrow…The first Change of Perspective Bag went out and I just got a message from someone, and a second bag may be leaving to its intended recipient soon…so keep tuned in for that…

Carelessly

April